Skip to content

From coffee grounds to guinea pig bedding - the composters keeping it local

Natalie GriceBBC Wales
News imageHeledd Wyn Steph Robinson is a white British woman with bleached blonde and grey hair. She wears green framed glasses, an orange t-shirt and orange working trousers with black patches over the knee and lower legs. ffin Jordao is Portuguese with short brown hair and light olive skin. They wear an orange and black peaked cap, the same orange work t-shirt as Steph and light beige working trousers. Both sit on a bench in front of metal fencing and greenery and smile at the camera.Heledd Wyn
Steph Robinson and ffin Jordao first met at the Centre for Alternative Technology sustainable development charity in Machynlleth

When you put food leftovers outside the house for collection, what do you think you are doing? Getting rid of waste or giving away a valuable resource that could be used right on your doorstep?

For the founders of an award-winning community compost business, it's a no-brainer that the second answer is the correct one.

Steph Robinson and ffin Jordao of Criw Compostio collect food waste from cafes and businesses who pay them and convert it into peat-free compost, which is then used by the community.

"Local growers then take that compost, grow food that goes back to the cafes, cafes serve it, waste comes back to us and we turn it back into compost," said Steph.

Once ready, it is available on a "pay what you feel, pay what you can afford" basis and all stays within the community.

News imageHeleddWyn Somebody wearing an orange t-shirt and green work overalls is bent over leaning a long way into a green composting or storage bin. There is a pile of compost in front of the bin. Three others stand to the right of it. Behind is movable metal fencing with tyres and other industrial type equipment behind it, and a tree and scrub covered embankment.HeleddWyn
Getting up close and personal with compost is part of the job...

Steph and ffin met at the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) just outside Machynlleth, Powys.

It was established more than 50 years ago by volunteers who wanted to find ways to live without relying on fossil fuels and grew into a leading environmental charity.

Biologist ffin, 43, originally from Portugal, moved to Wales to work in CAT's biology department while Steph, 49, moved from England to run the centre's short courses programme.

Her background was in diversity and inclusion but also systems analysis, project management and "all kinds of business skills really".

CAT attracted ffin because it "struck me as a place where you could do very hands-on biology and work on off-grid systems, and also have an education component and a visitor centre".

Criw Compostio grew out of a project ffin initially set up with a grant from the Shared Prosperity Fund in 2022.

Further funding has allowed them to focus on research and development and set up a composting school to help other projects in other communities get going.

News imageHeledd Wyn ffin with an orange and black baseball style cap on and an orange Criw Compostio t-shirt. She is wearing glasses and appears to be holding something in her hands out of the picture, possibly a shovel, and putting something into the circular opening of a composting or shredding machine to her side, which has a Criw Compostio label on the top of it. She is photographed from the side and looking down at what she is doing. Behind her to the right Steph, also wearing orange, is bent over and her head is out of sight behind the machine. There is movable fencing behind them.Heledd Wyn
All composting is done at Criw Compostio's base in Machynlleth, keeping transport miles to a minimum

Criw Compostio picks up waste, as well as wood shavings from a carpentry business and used rabbit and guinea pig bedding from pet owners, twice a week.

It is then taken to a processing site in Machynlleth "so we're travelling a very short distance" where they have specialised composters.

"They're like hot, rat-proof hyper composters that turn it into something that's very unattractive to pests and such very quickly," said Steph.

It take about a year to turn it into compost, which Steph said had just won an award for its quality.

"Local growers then take that compost, grow food that goes back to the cafes, cafes serve it, waste comes back to us and we turn it back into compost.

"The frame that we work within means it has to stay local, so we don't sell it on eBay or Amazon or whatever. It stays within that resources loop."

As in every other Welsh county, food waste collections from households, rather than businesses, are mandatory and carried out by Powys council.

However, Criw Compostio run sessions for households who want to improve the composting they do at home or to improve composting at allotments.

The majority of their compost users are people growing food to sell "in the Machynlleth markets, to sell in the local whole food shop, to sell directly to local restaurants".

Steph said the cost of living crisis had raised interest for individuals looking to grow their own food and allotments were "hot property here".

ffin said it was "interesting how much productivity can come from a small garden".

News imageHeledd Wyn A large paper sack with a white label on the outside reading Compost. There is a Criw Compostio logo at the top and smaller typing plus a bar code. One of ffin's legs wearing orange trousers is visible behind it, and a hand holding a permanent marker bending over to write something on the label.Heledd Wyn
Compost is stored and distributed in paper bags "because it is a living thing" and needs to breathe

Local is key to their ethos - they don't operate outside of a 20-mile radius and their only ambition for growth is helping others start similar projects.

They have worked with groups in neighbouring Gwynedd to help establish similar schemes and have hosted people at their composting schools from as far afield as Birmingham.

It's not just about the practical or environmental aspects of making compost for use locally, Steph also talks about the social impact it can have, particularly for people with money worries.

"There are really vibrant growing communities that have been going quite a long time because people have been struggling economically, so they need to grow food," she said.

"They're enjoying being able to be together without having to spend any money. There's access into dealing with loneliness, and disconnection and all the social problems that we're dealing with."

News imageGetty Images In the foreground is a gravel covered courtyard with wooden picnic tables at the Centre for Alternative Technology, Machynlleth. Parts of the building can be seen behind, including an original slate roofed building which has had extensions to the front and both sides adding on more modern, glass fronted buildings with patio sliding doors and solar panels on top. In the background is a flat-topped building with wood-lined balcony.Getty Images
The Centre for Alternative Technology first opened in 1973

As well as the two of them, there are six directors on the company's board, a "compost caretaker" and about 15 volunteers on a rolling basis who learn about compost creation and get paid in compost.

To complement ffin's biology background, they also have an expert advisory panel of academics working in soil ecology at various universities to consult with on technical and scientific developments.

The most fundamental principle for them is that the term food waste is wrong.

Steph explains: "If we turn this on its head, this is a valuable resource which could potentially be seen as being extracted from this community, which actually could remain and could be very, very useful.

"How useful is it when we as a community say 'OK, we're going to hold on to these things because we know they're really valuable'. We're going to turn them into something that adds jobs, creates nutritious soil."

ffin sums it up: "Turning it into the most valuable thing it can be turned into: Nutritious food."

More top stories